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Château Ormes de Pez

Terrific wine and everything that St Estèphe should be, in good years Château Ormes de Pez, [the ‘les’ apparently dropped in 2003] is a full throttle wine with lots of flavour and layers of fruit. It is also a wine that ages superbly in my experience but can be enjoyed young or old. This is easily classed growth stuff and probably one of Bordeaux’s most enjoyable wines. Newly designed label starting 2003 features a wonderful circular illustration of a tree, a reference to the old elms that used to stand at the property from which the estate derives its name. Owned by the Cazes family of Lynch-Bages, the vineyards are located in two principal plots in the centre and the north of the appellation.

2010 Deep and glossy; some fruit cake elements; some salt and some blackcurrant; little leaf; depth here; attractive. Lots of extract and chew – the material is dense which gives the wine a ballsy, don’t mess edge. Lots of grip too along with the guts. Nose and the mid-palate suggest sufficient fruit here to cover the grip and tannin. Grippy finish. Very long-term. 89+ UGCB Nov ’12 [Earlier note] Deep and dark; legs; very attractive nose; some black fruits; some real depth here, tar and liquorice notes too; cassis; palate has density with concentration and extract; mineral, wet stone, lots of extract and tannin and chew but the fruit density is there. Very good 88-90/100 [57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc 2% Petit Verdot Alc 13.6] 5th April 2011 UGC [2nd tasting UGC] Saturated and deep looking; ripe and thick nose; sweetness here but with some chalk; deep, very attractive; stones and rocks, solidity here; strong wine. This is St Esteèphe, dense, tannic but ripe. Should age well [will need it!] but should provide value. 88-90/100 7th April 2011 UGC

2009 Deep and dense; close to the rim; blackcurrants; lots of fruit on the nose; summer pudding tones; very open and opulent; great palate; lots of extract and material here; chewy mineral tones; wet rocks; this needs time as there is a lot of [ripe] tannin. Great stuff. 92/100 UGC Oct ’11 [Earlier note] 2009 Deep black, purple at edge; creamy note here; real ripeness to the nose; quite fat; plums and mulberries; attractive; palate less fat than Lafon Rochet but well structured with tannic bite. Good density. Very ripe, lots of extract and concentration. Great Ormes de Pez on par with the 1982 but with riper tannins. 92+/100 [Second tasting] Ripe strawberry and lots of fruit here; attractive nose; minerals and roses; excellent wine here; tannins a bit present here but lots of ripe fruit to match. 90-92+/100. Tasted 30th March & 1st April ’10 UGC Primeur tastings.

2008 Deepish; lifted blackcurrants, some smoke, little tar; promising aromatics; palate little tighter and more structured; there is flesh but the tannins are a little firm. Typical of the year. Bit angular on the finish. Tasted June ’16. 87

2005 Mid red; legs; some earth, ripe notes, some menthol and herbs, wet stones and minerals too, full, with mocha notes and some roasted oak at the back; full lush palate, quite sturdy and concentrated; again some burnt notes with oak; structure and ripe tannins here, fresher and agile on the palate. 90+/100 August ‘10

1982 – A case bought for £87 in the late 1980s has to go down as one of the best value boxes of claret I’ve bought. The final bottle drunk in 2008 was knockout. Full throttle, savoury, gutsy St Estèphe with huge extract and complexity. Would age further and last for twenty plus years. Each bottle has been good but this last one remarkable – reminiscent of the wines I’ve read were produced here in the post-war period. Defines the phrase ‘No great wines just great bottles of wine’. 94+/100 June ‘08

1973 Dark, brown at edge; attractive tea and toffee, not completely gone; some savoury St Estephe characters still there on palate. A dismal vintage but wine far from a disaster. 82/100 Jan ‘00

Recent Comments

tkoby11

Jeremy I tasted these the week before last in the States and with 3 hours only got to about 60 wines total but was sure to hit all wines, sometime twice, that were of personal and purchase interest for me. We are fairly similar in our assessment with a few swaps between your level 1 and my level 2. Troplong Mondot, Pavie Macquin, and Canon Lagaffeliere were tops for me. Figeac was not showing well, I have loved this wine from literally every vintage I have ever had, its a no score for me to be tried again. Cab sauv in the C. Lagaf gave it a nice extra tannic beam of structure on all the lush fruit, Mondot and Macquin being neighbors and have lots of limestone soils are nice twins. I also think that Macquin 10 blows the doors off their 2009.